Pres. Obama Speaks at the Associated Press Luncheon

President Obama discusses the fundamental issues at stake for our Nation, and how we can restore a sense of security for people who are willing to work hard and act responsibly in this country. April 3, 2012.

Progressive Vs Conservative

Democratic Party Of Collin Co. Chair Candidate Debate 4/30

The TDWCC has organized a debate between the candidates for Democratic Party of Collin Co. Chair for Monday, April 30, 2012 from 7:00pm to 8:30pm. This event is cosponsored by TDWCC along with CCGLA, Drinking Liberally – Plano, Muslim Caucus – Collin County, the Texas Democratic Men’s Club, and the Allen Democrats.

John Lingenfelder


Shawn Stevens

Please attend this debate so you can make an informed decision on which county chair candidate, incumbent Shawn Stevens or 2010 Congressional Candidate John Lingenfelder, might best extend the Democratic Party into the community by cooperating with other Democratic organizations to broaden and diversify the base of Democratic voters and activists in the County.

You can submit debate questions for the candidates and RSVP by emailing to gotv@tdwcc.org. Questions are due by April 10.

The Texas Democratic Women of Collin County cosponsored debate will be held at the Preston Ridge Campus of Collin College, 9700 Wade Blvd., Frisco, Texas, Founders Hall, Shawnee Room F148. Click for detailed maps.

The County Chair candidate names will appear on the Democratic Party of Collin Co. Primary Election ballot.

Early voting for the Primary Election will begin on Monday May 14, 2012 and continue through Friday May 25, 2012 at the regular Collin County early voting polling locations. Primary Election Day is on Tuesday May 29, 2012 at election precinct polling locations around county.

This blog will publish polling location information after the Democratic Party of Collin Co. Executive Committee approves the proposed precinct polling locations later this month. This blog will also report on the county chair candidate debate and begin a series of articles about the candidates and the Democratic Party of Collin Co. following the debate.

Progressives Compel Coca-Cola To Pull ALEC Support Over Its Support Of Voter Photo ID Laws

Think Progress

Prompted by a petition campaign by the progressive advocacy group Color of Change, Coca-Cola has pulled its support from ALEC, a right-wing corporate-funded front group which has been pushing voter photo ID laws around the country. The company released this statement moments ago:

The Coca-Cola Company has elected to discontinue its membership with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Our involvement with ALEC was focused on efforts to oppose discriminatory food and beverage taxes, not on issues that have no direct bearing on our business. We have a long-standing policy of only taking positions on issues that impact our Company and industry.

Impressively, Coke’s retreat came just five hours after Color of Change announced its petition, which read: “ALEC has pushed voter [photo] ID laws which disenfranchise large numbers of Black voters. Along with the NRA, ALEC also pushed a bill based on Florida’s ‘shoot first’ law – which has shielded Trayvon Martin’s killer from justice – into two dozen states across the country.”

Just this morning, the Center for American Progress released a report highlighting ALEC’s role in voter suppression:

ALEC charges corporations such as Koch Industries Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and The Coca-Cola Co. a fee and gives them access to members of state legislatures. Under ALEC’s auspices, legislators, corporate representatives, and ALEC officials work together to draft model legislation. As ALEC spokesperson Michael Bowman told NPR, this system is especially effective because “you have legislators who will ask questions much more freely at our meetings because they are not under the eyes of the press, the eyes of the voters.”

American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a heavily conservative organization funded by billionaires such as the Scaife family (Allegheny Foundation and the Scaife Family Foundation), the Coors family (Castle Rock Foundation), Charles Koch (Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and the Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation), the Bradley family (The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation) and the Olin family (John M. Olin Foundation) and corporations such as Altria, AT&T, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Koch Industries, Kraft, PhRMA, Wal-Mart, Peabody Energy, and State Farm. Such corporations represent just a fraction of ALEC’s approximately three hundred corporate partners. ALEC writes legislative bills that Republican governors and legislators introduce as their own in state legislatures - sometimes without remember to remove the ALEC identifier from the legislative text.

ALEC’s public safety and elections task force drafted the Voter ID Act in the summer of 2009, which would require “proof of identity” to vote. Those without a valid photo ID must fill out a provisional ballot that is only counted if the voter produces an ID at the county elections office. It also suggests that ID cards be made available free of charge to eligible voters without a valid driver’s license.

A year after the 2008 presidential election, ALEC ramped up its program to push for new voter identification laws in all 50 states. Since 2009, 33 states have introduced some form of photo ID bill, and 14 states have passed laws that now require voters to present a federal- or state-issued photo ID with an expiration date at the polls. The highest percentage of people who do hold one of the limited selection of photo ID's include senior citizens, college students, people with disabilities, people of color, and new Americans - the groups who voted most heavily for Barack Obama in 2008.

More:

• Votes On The Line With Voter Photo ID
• ALEC: The Voice of Corporate Special Interests In State Legislatures
• Project Seeks to Help Students Overcome Barriers to Voting
• Why Millions of American Voters Have No Government Issued Photo ID
  
• Texas Voter Photo ID FAQ

The Gender Gap: Wider Than Ever

The gender gap -- the difference in support for a candidate among women and men -- has long favored Democratic presidential candidates.

Even so, Barack Obama's advantages among women voters over his GOP rivals are striking.

Obama led Mitt Romney by 20 points (58% to 38%) among women voters and Rick Santorum by 26 points (61% to 35%) in the Pew Research Center's most recent national survey, conducted March 7-11. Obama runs about even with Romney among men and leads Santorum.

Just as women have been more likely to vote Democratic in presidential elections, a higher percentage also identifies with or leans toward the Democratic Party. In surveys this year, 52% of women identify with the Democratic Party or lean Democratic, compared with 43% of men.

This figure is in line with the gender gap in party identification dating back to 1990. In 2008, 56% of women and 46% of men identified as Democrats or leaned Democratic. There are several clusters of issues on which men and women divide, including social issues, views of government and its role, energy and the environment, and foreign policy and national security.

Read the full report for a detailed analysis of gender differences in politics.

Democratic Party's Image Improves; GOP Ratings Stay Negative

Pew Research Center

About half (49%) the public now has a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party; 43% have an unfavorable view. The number of people who regard the party favorably increased six points since January.

This represents a significant recovery from an all-time low favorability rating of 38% in April 2010, just after the passage of the health care bill. However, impressions of the Democratic Party are still far lower than they were in January 2009, when Barack Obama took office. At that time, 62% of people viewed the party favorably.

Views of the Republican Party remain negative – just 36% of people have a positive impression of the GOP and over half of people (56%) have an unfavorable view. This figure is little changed from earlier this year and from April 2010, when the party was viewed favorably by just 37% of people.

A majority of women (54%) now have a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party (up eight points over the last two months) while 40% have an unfavorable impression.

Women's views of the Republican Party are far more negative -- 38% have a favorable opinion while 56% have an unfavorable one. These opinions are little changed from January.

Throughout the past four years, with the exception of the spring and summer of 2010, women have viewed the Democratic Party more favorably than the GOP.

For the first time since 2009, men hold a more favorable view of the Democratic Party than the Republican Party (44% vs. 35%). Read more

Texas Primaries, Caucuses, Conventions, And Politics

Everything You Ever Thought You Wanted To Know!
Join the Texas Democratic Women of Collin County on Thursday, April 5, 7-9 pm at Collin College – Frisco Campus, 9700 Wade Blvd., Building J, Rm. J113 for an evening of exciting discussion regarding the ever-changing Texas Primary and conventions!

Be A Delegate to the 2012 Collin Co. Democratic Convention at the Plano Centre in Plano, Texas! (map)

Any registered voter who signs an oath of affiliation with the Texas Democratic Party at convention check-in or during the convention may participate. To be a Delegate just check into the convention during registration from 8:00 am to 10:00 am on Saturday April 21 using your Voter Registration Card, Driver's License or other identification used for voting.

• Learn how the new maps will affect you!
• Find out how you can become a delegate at the County Convention on April 21st without going to a precinct caucus!
• Find out about the Primary Election scheduled for May 29th!

The session is free and open to the public – RSVP to events@tdwcc.org.

In normal primary election years the Texas Democratic and Republican Parties conduct their respective Senatorial District or County Conventions three weeks after primary election day and after Election Precinct Conventions, which are normally held during the evening of primary election day.

It's all different this year! This year, drawn out court battles over the new redistricting maps have pushed primary election day from its usual first Tuesday in March date to Tuesday May 29.

Since the Democratic and Republican Parties were already locked into holding their respective state conventions the weekend of June 9 - just over one week after the rescheduled May 29 primary date - they asked the San Antonio three-judge panel to issue an order allowing them to hold their respective SD/County conventions in April, five weeks before the primary election.

This year, the Texas Democratic Party convention and national presidential delegate selection process will skip the preliminary Election Precinct Conventions and begin with County/Senatorial District Conventions on Saturday April 21, 2012. SD/County delegates will be elected to advance to the June 7-9 Texas Democratic Party State Convention at the George R. Brown Convention Center in in Houston, Tx, where delegates will be elected to advance to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC.

This year, any registered voter who signs an oath of affiliation with the Texas Democratic Party at convention check or during the convention may participate in their County/Senatorial District Convention as a delegate. People who sign an oath of affiliation with the Texas Democratic Party -- which they would normally do when voting in the party's primary election -- cannot participate in another political party’s process, or vote in another party's primary election until after December 31, 2013, when the party affiliation cycle resets for the 2014 primary year.

Any person eligible to participate in the delegate selection process may qualify as a candidate for National Convention delegate and alternate by filing a National Delegate Statement of Candidacy form with the Texas Democratic Party State Chair, State Democratic Executive Committee, 505 W. 12th Street, Austin, Texas 78701. Statements of Candidacy must be submitted no earlier than April 16, 2012 and no later than 5:00 p.m. on May 15, 2012 (Rules 12B & 14F).

Often overlooked because it is so early in the process, this form MUST be filed if you have any intention (even if you ultimately decline) to run for National Delegate. This isn't a change cause by redistricting, but it's worth highlighting.

Statements of Candidacy must be submitted on forms approved by the State Democratic Executive Committee and must contain the individual's name, mailing address, residence address, day and night phone numbers, email address, a pledge of support to the Democratic nominee for president, an oath of affiliation with the Democratic Party and a signed pledge of support to the individual's presidential preference (or uncommitted status) or an oath that the individual is currently uncommitted.

Related:
Democratic Party County/Senatorial District Conventions On For April 21

TDWCC Presents Gasland For Movie Night At The Angelika

Texas Democratic Women of Collin County Presents Josh Fox’s acclaimed documentary Gasland for Movie Night at the Plano Angelika Theater, Shops at Legacy, on Tuesday, April 10
6:00pm – 9:30pm.

Celebrate Earth Month! Get informed, inspired to save our planet and our neighborhoods, and support the TDWCC by attending Movie Night this month!

Gasland Movie Trailer

Gasland, an entertaining documentary about fracking and the dangers of this form of natural gas drilling. Join the TDWCC for a lively panel discussion after the movie, with Sharon Wilson of Earthworks Oil & Gas Accountability Project, John McCall Jr. of the Dallas Gas Drilling Task Force, and Kathy Martin, civil engineer in gas and oil regulations.

The movie ticket price includes the movie, coffee, and dessert. The theater has a cash bar.

You can learn more or purchase tickets by clicking to the TDWCC website.

Dessert and Coffee will be served before the movie including Kosher for Passover.

More about Fracking in Dallas

OFA's Documentary "The Road We’ve Traveled"

Davis Guggenheim‘s 17-minute documentary, "The Road We’ve Traveled," about some of the calls President Obama made since taking the oath of office in January 2009. The documentary features interviews from President Bill Clinton, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Elizabeth Warren, David Axelrod, Austan Goolsbee, and more.

Poll: Obama Leads All GOP Candidates

President Obama is leading all of the Republican presidential candidates in head-to-head match-ups, according to a poll released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

Pew's national survey taken March 7-11 shows Pres. Obama is leading Romney by 12 percentage points (54%-42%) and Santorum by 28 points (57%-29%) among voters.

Among the information pulled from from Pew's survey:

Obama's approval rating rises to 50 percent

For the first time since Osama bin Laden was killed last summer, half of all Americans (50 percent) say they approve of Pres. Obama's job performance, while just 41 percent disapprove.

Most think Pres. Obama will win a second term

By a 59-32 margin, most Americans think Pres. Obama will win the election if Mitt Romney is the Republican nominee. That margin is far wider if Rick Santorum is the GOP nominee: 68 percent think Obama would win, while just 24 percent predict a Santorum presidency.

A majority of Americans have an unfavorable view of the Republican candidates

Confirming fears among Republicans that the protracted primary is weakening all the candidates, the survey found that the contentious Republican primary has taken a toll on the image of the leading GOP candidates. In the current survey, just 29 percent of Americans say they have a favorable view of Romney, while 51 percent say they have an unfavorable impression.

Republicans are struggling with women and minorities

Pres. Obama's lead over Romney is attributable in large part to his wide advantage among women, younger voters, and nonwhites. Women favor Pres. Obama over Romney by 20 points—virtually unchanged from a month ago.

Nation split over federal health care overhaul

Two years after the passage of the Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act, which the GOP deride as "Obamacare," the public is evenly divided over the law.

Overall, 47 percent approve of the law, while 45 percent disapprove.

Romney's national lead widening among Republican primary voters

Mitt Romney has regained the lead in the support for his party's presidential nomination, as conservative backing for Rick Santorum has declined. Romney currently holds a 33-24 lead over Santorum among registered Republican and Republican-leaning independent voters, with 20 percent backing Newt Gingrich and 14 percent favoring Ron Paul. The poll was taken before Santorum's double victories in Alabama and Mississippi Tuesday night.

Don't LET Them Mess With the Women of Texas!

RH Reality Check by Beverly McPhail, University of Houston Women's Resource Center.

There are a multitude of excuses that women offer to rationalize their lack of political participation: We are tired. We are busy. We are working in our jobs and raising our families. There is laundry to be done, bills to be paid, and a project due at work. Politics is too messy. Or we are too busy surfing the web or watching reality television. Or this is about other women and not me.

However, such excuses are reminiscent of the famous statement attributed to Martin Niemoller about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power when, one by one, certain groups were selected for purging.

The text starts, “First they came for the communists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist . . . ”

The paraphrased version for Texas women today would read:

First they came for the women who needed abortions, and even though one in three women in the United States will have an abortion in her lifetime, I didn’t speak out because I didn’t think I think I would ever need one.

Then they came for poor women’s health care by shutting down the Medicaid Women’s Health Program, which provided breast cancer screenings and pap smears for cervical cancer screening, and I didn’t speak out because I am not a poor woman.

Then they came for outspoken women who express their opinions on birth control mandates in preventive health care policy, like Georgetown University Law Center student Sandra Fluke, and I didn’t speak out because I was afraid I, too, would be branded a slut and a prostitute.

Then they came to take away women’s birth control (more than 99% of sexually active women aged 15-44 have used at least one contraceptive method reports the Guttmacher Institute) and I did not speak out because I am beyond childbearing years.

Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me....

What will it take for Texas women to use our voices and our votes to protect poor women’s health care, roll back restrictive and onerous abortion regulations, and gain back control of our bodies, our lives, and our daughters’ futures?

Read the full article @ RH Reality Check

Texas GOP Staffer Quits Over Draconian Cuts to Women's Health Care, Speaks At Rally

RH Reality Check by Jodi Jacobson, Editor in Chief, RH Reality Check

Rallies were held in Texas yesterday on the eve of the elimination of funding to the Women's Health Program through the state, and subsequently to all Planned Parenthood clinics because... well, because the far right apparently doesn't like women to have health care.

So 130,000 more women in Texas will be without health care tomorrow, a state in which access to primary reproductive health care has already been made scarce since the legislature cut funds dramatically last year as well. The cuts will take place because Governor Perry is refusing federal funding that otherwise would go to these clinics. Perry, and other opponents of women's health care in Texas, claim there are "lots of alternatives" to the clinics now providing low-income women--mothers, students, employees--with health services, but as Andrea Grimes reported for us last year, those alternatives just don't exist.

And as Grimes reported, the 2011 state family planning cuts left 180,000 women without access to contraception and reproductive health services like pap smears and breast cancer screenings.

"The Women's Health Program serves an additional 130,000 women, bringing the total number of women without access to basic reproductive health care to 310,000," writes Grimes. "Some estimates put the number closer to 400,000. The Texas Legislative Budget Board has estimated that this will result in up to 21,000 additional births in the state--children born to families who are already in need of government assistance and who would otherwise have sought to avoid an unintended and unwanted pregnancy.

But the anger at these cuts in Texas and across the country is building and even women on the right are fed up. Today, according to the Austin Chronicle, GOP legislative aide, Allison Catalano, who began working for Texas state legislator Myra Crownover last summer, resigned her post, citing Crownover's support for the cuts to women's health funding.

In a letter to Crownover, Catalano wrote that she decided to resign her position because of "recent decisions made by you, Representative Crownover, along with other legislators" related to the draconian cuts to the women's health budget.